Through Your Eyes
by 66sixx
Summary: 550 years after the Scarlet Mist Incident, Flandre Scarlet passes away peacefully, joining her friends and family. She makes her way to Hakugyokurou, and Yuyuko Saigyouji tells her the story of a girl who wanted a second chance at life. (Episode 2 of Canonical Speculation)


Through a window, Yuyuko Saigyouji can see a girl walking towards the entrance to Hakugyokurou. The lack of wings on the girl confuses her until she reminds herself that vampires lose their wings upon death. Yuyuko stands and begins to leave the shrine.

"Youmu, she's here. I should be going. I trust that you will look after things in my absence."

"I will, Lady Yuyuko." Youmu bows and Yuyuko exits.

Yuyuko and the vampire approach one another. "Welcome, Flandre." The vampire is confused that this lady already knows her name despite this being their first time meeting each other.

"Madam, you already know my name?"

"Forgive me. I've been looking forward to meeting you." That does not explain how Yuyuko knows Flandre's name. This explanation will come when the time is right. In fact, that is why Flandre has been invited to Hakugyokurou.

"..." Flandre thinks briefly about what to say next. "I'm starting to get used to not having to worry about shriveling up in the sun. So this is what death is like."

 _She's so carefree now that she's dead. It makes me happy to see her like this._ At this moment, Yuyuko decides to shift the tone of the conversation. She is going to say what she came here to say. "Flandre, do you have any regrets in your life?"

"Hmm..." Flandre sighs. "There's this human named Sakuya. She's lonely. She has the power to manipulate time, but can't be affected by it. She can't age like humans usually do. One evening, I took a nap, but my time came and I died in her arms." She sighs again. "I just hope she's doing okay."

"Flandre, what I'm about to tell you may shock you, but I feel as if you have to know the truth."

"Truth?"

"First, let me tell you how I died." Yuyuko pauses and then continues. "Some time during my youth, I discovered that I had the power to kill anyone by thinking about them. I didn't trust myself to come near anyone." Flandre's eyes widen at the parallels between Yuyuko's story and her own, but she says nothing yet. "Everywhere I went, people died, because of me. I couldn't get away from it. I found only one option... and killed myself."

"Yuyuko, before you go on,... can I tell you how I found out about my powers to destroy anything?"

"I already know your story, Flandre. You're a reincarnation of me!"

"What?" Flandre is confused by what Yuyuko has just told her. How can a reincarnation coexist with their past self? Yuyuko knows that this would confuse her.

"After I died, I ended up here. I hated what my life was and for 500 years, I wished for a second chance. As a bringer of death, I was given no compassion, no love, and I hated how everyone else had those. My bitterness over my life somehow split my soul into two. The vengeful half of my soul... became you, Flandre."

Flandre thinks back to when she discovered her powers. A fellow vampire tried to kidnap her sister Remilia. In a split-second decision that changed her life and her sister's life, she destroyed the heart of the potential kidnapper. The fear that she might kill someone else overwhelmed her and she refused to come out of her room. Other vampires invaded their home and tried to execute her, killing her parents when they were the first to argue against the execution. When they threatened Remilia with death if she tried to prevent Flandre's execution, Flandre murdered them all. She went on a rampage and massacred the entire vampire population except for her sister. Like Yuyuko, she too thought about killing herself, but was stopped by her sister, for whom she condemned the vampire race to extinction. There was no going back at that point. They would live with the consequences of their actions. They would live for one another. Even so, Flandre sealed herself in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion for almost 500 years. At first, only Remilia would keep her company, but eventually, the mansion, and the sisters along with it, were mysteriously transported to the land of fantasy...

During their time in Gensoukyou, Flandre slowly went mad with self-fear, even with her sister continuing to visit her regularly. She felt like she could never trust herself to leave the mansion. She started to wonder whether her sister was worth the massacre of the vampire race. She considered killing her beloved sister and then herself. One day, a dragon came to visit her and shared the story of her past and how she came to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The two became very close friends and over the coming centuries, her self-hatred was dispelled with Meiling's help.

425 years after she last stepped outside the mansion's basement, a vampire hunter invaded their home. Flandre tried to destroy her like any other threat to her and her sister... and found that she couldn't. The reason that Flandre couldn't just kill the invader would make itself clear in a few hundred years. Despite not being able to kill the hunter instantly, she and her sister defeated the vampire hunter. Like Meiling, she was also offered the opportunity to serve them. When the hunter stated that she had forgotten her own name, Remilia saw the full moon and recalled the flowers in full bloom earlier that day, and gave her the name Sakuya Izayoi.

Flandre's darkest days came to an end when a shrine maiden and a witch fought her using the recently created spell card rules. All three of them enjoyed the battle. For Flandre, it confirmed that she had found a way to leave her past behind and start over in Gensoukyou. When she returned to the mansion after spending her first day outside in so long, she was overcome with happiness and cried into Meiling's shoulder, then into her sister's shoulder.

Yuyuko knew that after that, Flandre's life would not have the regrets and bitterness that plagued her own life. From that point forward, Yuyuko's dreams were of her wish being granted. Her second chance at life was fulfilling and she felt a curse lift from her.

Only part of her soul was used to create the one known as Flandre Scarlet, thus, Yuyuko could not influence Flandre, but she could dream about Flandre's life as if it was her own. They both had similar abilities, something that could not be avoided as they were once the same person. Of course, as with all life, Flandre had to start again with no memory of her past life.

 _So this is how she knows who I am. I'm the reincarnation of her anger and bitterness over her life._ "How were you able to follow me? How do you know so much about my life?"

"After your birth, I had dreams about your life. I had dreams where I lived your life as if it was my own. I couldn't control you, as you had become independent from me when you were born. After you were born, I promised myself that I would tell you the truth. I noticed many parallels between your life and mine. Many times, I thought that your life would have the tragic end that mine had." Tears well up in Yuyuko's eyes. "And I was so happy when it didn't. You were born from my resentment. You were born from my inability to accept what my life was, and you managed to conquer that!" Flandre is pulled into an embrace, and gently grasps Yuyuko by her shoulders. "Thank you, Flandre,... I'm so sorry..., I'm sorry for how you came into being, but thank you..."

Flandre looks back on her life and everything she went through. She is the reason that vampires are extinct, having killed them all to save her sister. She locked herself inside for centuries, but conquered her worst fears with help from Meiling, from her sister Remilia, from Patchouli, a bit from Patchouli's familiar, from Sakuya, from the witch Marisa, and from the shrine maiden Reimu.

Without a doubt, Flandre's life was the one that Yuyuko spent 500 years wishing for. It was worth the 500 years of much of the same from her past life. Had Yuyuko been able to influence Flandre's actions, it was likely, extremely likely that history would repeat itself, Flandre's life would end in tragedy and Yuyuko would lose the opportunity that she spent centuries yearning for. But 500 years of bitterness and anger over her life, followed by 500 years of imprisonment and despair, that turned out to have paid off. Flandre became surrounded by others who care about her enough to help her find happiness and freedom. To Yuyuko, that was paradise, that was all that she wanted out of life.

"Maybe, once I reincarnate, you can enjoy my next life."

"I'm afraid I can't. Firstly, my connection with you was severed when you passed. Secondly, you're no longer a vengeful spirit. Your regrets don't give you enough of an attachment to the world of the living. The regrets that had kept me longing for a second life have disappeared over the course of your life. I'm happy. I'm happy, Flandre."

"Will we see each other again?"

"We probably will. But we won't know that we have. When you reincarnate, you will forget everything. You'll forget who I am. I only knew that you were a reincarnation of me because my desire for a second chance at life created you and allowed me to dream about your life. Now that your life has ended, I can no longer see through your eyes."

Both of them feel a teardrop fall on their shoulders. "I guess that's the way it has to be. Do you still have regrets about your life, Yuyuko?"

"None that matter, I finally know what it's like to be surrounded by people who care for you. I know what it's like for others not to see me as a complete monster. I do have regrets about the life we just lived, but I got everything I wanted out of it."

"Mm-hm." Flandre nods her head. She and Yuyuko part ways, knowing that Flandre will return after her next life. They will not know it when it happens, but almost certainly, they will cross paths again. It will be a long time before that happens and any connection or relation between Flandre and her reincarnation will have been erased by then.

Yuyuko feels a great burden fall from her shoulders. Flandre knows the truth now, and gracefully accepts it. The hatred and despair that existed within Flandre's soul had been cleansed over the course of her life. She will reincarnate without the bitterness that threatened to consume her. _I'm sure her next life will be filled with happiness._

A portal opens in front of Yuyuko, and out pops her closest friend.

"How was it, Yuyuko? What was it like to meet your other self?"

"It made me so happy to see her. She overcame so much. My soul splitting wasn't what I had in mind when I kept wishing for a second chance. But I feel satisfied. I feel satisfied, Yukari."

"So what will happen to Flandre?"

"What will happen? What happens to all departed souls? We're no longer the same person. The connection between us was cut when she passed. She'll reincarnate and I won't be able to tell her apart from other living beings. But I think it's for the best, I don't want to connect her with any of her reincarnations. Through her, I lived the life I wished for."

"Time marches on, doesn't it?"

Yuyuko nods her head. "Yes, it does." She has enjoyed a fulfilling life after about 1000 years of despair. The regrets that caused her soul to split into two no longer exist. Her anger, her resentment, her despair, all of that was gone. Yuyuko has truly made peace with her tragic demise.


End file.
